1.Construction Process and Quality Control Points of the Database for Facial Phenotypes and Clinical Data of Pediatric Growth and Development-related Diseases
Jiaqi QIANG ; Yingjing WANG ; Danning WU ; Runzhu LIU ; Jiuzuo HUANG ; Hui PAN ; Xiao LONG ; Shi CHEN
Medical Journal of Peking Union Medical College Hospital 2025;16(3):552-557
The growth and development of children is an important stage for health, and its monitoringand intervention are related to the long-term development of individuals. The construction of a standardized and multi-dimensional database of pediatric growth and development-related diseases is an important basis for realizing precise diagnosis and treatment and health management. Based on the needs of clinical practice, this study proposes to establish a specialized database of pediatric growth and development-related diseases that integrates facial phenotypes and clinical diagnosis and treatment information. This study elaborates on the construction process, including data sources, data collection content, and the operation and management of the database; and proposes key points for quality control, including the establishment of quality control nodes, database construction standards, and a full-process quality control framework. The above ensure the integrity, logic and effectiveness of the data, so that the database can provide an objective basis for the screening and diagnosis of pediatric growth and development-related diseases. On the basis of scientific data management and strict quality control, the database will help reveal the patterns of children's growth and development, and promote the level of children's health management.
2.Integrated molecular characterization of sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma
Rong-Qi SUN ; Yu-Hang YE ; Ye XU ; Bo WANG ; Si-Yuan PAN ; Ning LI ; Long CHEN ; Jing-Yue PAN ; Zhi-Qiang HU ; Jia FAN ; Zheng-Jun ZHOU ; Jian ZHOU ; Cheng-Li SONG ; Shao-Lai ZHOU
Clinical and Molecular Hepatology 2025;31(2):426-444
Background:
s/Aims: Sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare histological subtype of HCC characterized by extremely poor prognosis; however, its molecular characterization has not been elucidated.
Methods:
In this study, we conducted an integrated multiomics study of whole-exome sequencing, RNA-seq, spatial transcriptome, and immunohistochemical analyses of 28 paired sarcomatoid tumor components and conventional HCC components from 10 patients with sarcomatoid HCC, in order to identify frequently altered genes, infer the tumor subclonal architectures, track the genomic evolution, and delineate the transcriptional characteristics of sarcomatoid HCCs.
Results:
Our results showed that the sarcomatoid HCCs had poor prognosis. The sarcomatoid tumor components and the conventional HCC components were derived from common ancestors, mostly accessing similar mutational processes. Clonal phylogenies demonstrated branched tumor evolution during sarcomatoid HCC development and progression. TP53 mutation commonly occurred at tumor initiation, whereas ARID2 mutation often occurred later. Transcriptome analyses revealed the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and hypoxic phenotype in sarcomatoid tumor components, which were confirmed by immunohistochemical staining. Moreover, we identified ARID2 mutations in 70% (7/10) of patients with sarcomatoid HCC but only 1–5% of patients with non-sarcomatoid HCC. Biofunctional investigations revealed that inactivating mutation of ARID2 contributes to HCC growth and metastasis and induces EMT in a hypoxic microenvironment.
Conclusions
We offer a comprehensive description of the molecular basis for sarcomatoid HCC, and identify genomic alteration (ARID2 mutation) together with the tumor microenvironment (hypoxic microenvironment), that may contribute to the formation of the sarcomatoid tumor component through EMT, leading to sarcomatoid HCC development and progression.
3.Integrated molecular characterization of sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma
Rong-Qi SUN ; Yu-Hang YE ; Ye XU ; Bo WANG ; Si-Yuan PAN ; Ning LI ; Long CHEN ; Jing-Yue PAN ; Zhi-Qiang HU ; Jia FAN ; Zheng-Jun ZHOU ; Jian ZHOU ; Cheng-Li SONG ; Shao-Lai ZHOU
Clinical and Molecular Hepatology 2025;31(2):426-444
Background:
s/Aims: Sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare histological subtype of HCC characterized by extremely poor prognosis; however, its molecular characterization has not been elucidated.
Methods:
In this study, we conducted an integrated multiomics study of whole-exome sequencing, RNA-seq, spatial transcriptome, and immunohistochemical analyses of 28 paired sarcomatoid tumor components and conventional HCC components from 10 patients with sarcomatoid HCC, in order to identify frequently altered genes, infer the tumor subclonal architectures, track the genomic evolution, and delineate the transcriptional characteristics of sarcomatoid HCCs.
Results:
Our results showed that the sarcomatoid HCCs had poor prognosis. The sarcomatoid tumor components and the conventional HCC components were derived from common ancestors, mostly accessing similar mutational processes. Clonal phylogenies demonstrated branched tumor evolution during sarcomatoid HCC development and progression. TP53 mutation commonly occurred at tumor initiation, whereas ARID2 mutation often occurred later. Transcriptome analyses revealed the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and hypoxic phenotype in sarcomatoid tumor components, which were confirmed by immunohistochemical staining. Moreover, we identified ARID2 mutations in 70% (7/10) of patients with sarcomatoid HCC but only 1–5% of patients with non-sarcomatoid HCC. Biofunctional investigations revealed that inactivating mutation of ARID2 contributes to HCC growth and metastasis and induces EMT in a hypoxic microenvironment.
Conclusions
We offer a comprehensive description of the molecular basis for sarcomatoid HCC, and identify genomic alteration (ARID2 mutation) together with the tumor microenvironment (hypoxic microenvironment), that may contribute to the formation of the sarcomatoid tumor component through EMT, leading to sarcomatoid HCC development and progression.
4.Integrated molecular characterization of sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma
Rong-Qi SUN ; Yu-Hang YE ; Ye XU ; Bo WANG ; Si-Yuan PAN ; Ning LI ; Long CHEN ; Jing-Yue PAN ; Zhi-Qiang HU ; Jia FAN ; Zheng-Jun ZHOU ; Jian ZHOU ; Cheng-Li SONG ; Shao-Lai ZHOU
Clinical and Molecular Hepatology 2025;31(2):426-444
Background:
s/Aims: Sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rare histological subtype of HCC characterized by extremely poor prognosis; however, its molecular characterization has not been elucidated.
Methods:
In this study, we conducted an integrated multiomics study of whole-exome sequencing, RNA-seq, spatial transcriptome, and immunohistochemical analyses of 28 paired sarcomatoid tumor components and conventional HCC components from 10 patients with sarcomatoid HCC, in order to identify frequently altered genes, infer the tumor subclonal architectures, track the genomic evolution, and delineate the transcriptional characteristics of sarcomatoid HCCs.
Results:
Our results showed that the sarcomatoid HCCs had poor prognosis. The sarcomatoid tumor components and the conventional HCC components were derived from common ancestors, mostly accessing similar mutational processes. Clonal phylogenies demonstrated branched tumor evolution during sarcomatoid HCC development and progression. TP53 mutation commonly occurred at tumor initiation, whereas ARID2 mutation often occurred later. Transcriptome analyses revealed the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and hypoxic phenotype in sarcomatoid tumor components, which were confirmed by immunohistochemical staining. Moreover, we identified ARID2 mutations in 70% (7/10) of patients with sarcomatoid HCC but only 1–5% of patients with non-sarcomatoid HCC. Biofunctional investigations revealed that inactivating mutation of ARID2 contributes to HCC growth and metastasis and induces EMT in a hypoxic microenvironment.
Conclusions
We offer a comprehensive description of the molecular basis for sarcomatoid HCC, and identify genomic alteration (ARID2 mutation) together with the tumor microenvironment (hypoxic microenvironment), that may contribute to the formation of the sarcomatoid tumor component through EMT, leading to sarcomatoid HCC development and progression.
5.Studies on the best production mode of traditional Chinese medicine driven by artificial intelligence and its engineering application.
Zheng LI ; Ning-Tao CHENG ; Xiao-Ping ZHAO ; Yi TAO ; Qi-Long XUE ; Xing-Chu GONG ; Yang YU ; Jie-Qiang ZHU ; Yi WANG
China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica 2025;50(12):3197-3203
The traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) industry is a crucial part of China's pharmaceutical sector and plays a strategic role in ensuring public health and promoting economic and social development. In response to the practical demand for high-quality development of the TCM industry, this paper focused on the bottlenecks encountered during the digital and intelligent transformation of TCM production systems. Specifically, it explored technical strategies and methodologies for constructing the best TCM production mode. An innovative artificial intelligence(AI)-centered technical architecture for TCM production was proposed, focusing on key aspects of production management including process modeling, state evaluation, and decision optimization. Furthermore, a series of critical technologies were developed to realize the best TCM production mode. Finally, a novel AI-driven TCM production mode characterized by a closed-loop system of "measurement-modeling-decision-execution" was presented through engineering case studies. This study is expected to provide a technological pathway for developing new quality productive forces within the TCM industry.
Artificial Intelligence
;
Drugs, Chinese Herbal
;
Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods*
;
Humans
6.Metallic nanomedicine in cancer immunotherapy.
Shixuan LI ; Xiaohu WANG ; Huiyun HAN ; Shuting XIANG ; Mingxi LI ; Guangyu LONG ; Yanming XIA ; Qiang ZHANG ; Suxin LI
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(9):4614-4643
Immunotherapy has become a pivotal modality in clinical cancer treatment. However, its effectiveness is limited to a small subset of patients due to the low antigenicity, impaired innate response, and various adaptive immune resistance mechanisms of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Accumulating evidence reveals the critical roles of metal elements in shaping immunity against tumor progression and metastasis. The marriage of metalloimmunotherapy and nanotechnology further presents new opportunities to optimize the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of metal ions in a precise spatiotemporal control manner. Several metallodrugs have demonstrated encouraging immunotherapeutic potential in preliminary studies and are currently undergoing clinical trials at different stages, yet challenges persist in scaling up production and addressing long-term biosafety concerns. This review delineates how metal materials modulate biological activities across diverse cell types to orchestrate antitumor immunity. Moreover, it summarizes recent progress in smart drug delivery-release systems integrating metal elements, either as cargo or vehicles, to enhance antitumor immune responses. Finally, the review introduces current clinical applications of nanomedicines in metalloimmunotherapy and discusses potential challenges that impede its widespread translation into clinical practice.
7.Real-world study on the efficacy of Polyene phosphatidylcholine capsules as adjunctive therapy for chronic hepatitis B
Baoqiang ZHU ; Qi HU ; Qiang LIU ; Meiding WANG ; Enwu LONG
China Pharmacy 2024;35(20):2505-2511
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of Polyene phosphatidylcholine capsules (PPC) as adjuvant therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB). METHODS Retrospective data were collected from the patients diagnosed with CHB, treated with hepatoprotective drugs combined with antiviral drugs or antiviral drugs alone, and underwent long-term follow-up in the outpatient department of Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2022. After balancing confounding factors through propensity score matching, the effectiveness of PPC combined with antiviral therapy versus antiviral therapy alone (PPC+antiviral group versus antiviral group) and PPC+Diammonium glycyrrhizinate enteric- coated capsules (DGC) combined with antiviral therapy versus DGC combined with antiviral therapy (PPC+DGC+antiviral group versus DGC+antiviral group) as therapy for CHB were compared under real medical conditions. RESULTS Totally 382 patients with CHB who received hepatoprotective agents based on antiviral therapy (221, 63 and 98 patients who received DGC, PPC and combination therapy, respectively) and 400 patients who received antiviral therapy alone were ultimately included. After propensity score matching, there were 47 patients each in the PPC+antiviral group and the antiviral group, respectively; after treatment, the alanine transaminase (ALT) levels in the PPC+antiviral group were significantly reduced compared to before treatment and the antiviral group at the same time (P<0.05), while there was no statistically significant difference in the ALT normalization rate between the two groups (P>0.05). There were 74 patients each in the PPC+DGC+antiviral group and the DGC+antiviral group, respectively; after treatment, the ALT levels of patients in both groups were significantly reduced compared to before treatment, the ALT levels of PPC+DGC+antiviral group were significantly lower than those in the DGC+antiviral group at the same time, and the ALT normalization rate was significantly higher in the PPC+DGC+antiviral group than that in the DGC+antiviral group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Based on using antiviral drugs to treat CHB, adjuvant therapy combined with PPC has a significant advantage in reducing liver enzymes; in addition, compared with the DGC combined antiviral regimen, the dual hepatoprotective drug of DGC and PPC combined with an antiviral regimen has better effects on liver protection and reduction of liver enzymes.
8.Application of Intestinal Organoids in The Study of Intestinal Disease Mechanism
Long-Zheng QIANG ; Hai-Guang MAO ; Meng-Ting WANG ; Li-Li QI ; Jin-Bo WANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2024;51(2):394-403
Intestinal organoids are constructed by crypts or stem cells from the intestine under the 3D support of the culture matrix. They contain all mature cells of the intestine, and have become a new and efficient platform for studying the mechanism of intestinal diseases. Compared with 2D cell culture, organoids can not only more effectively simulate the physiological structure and function of the intestine, but also better restore the true ecology of the intestine in different external environments. Therefore, it is more widely used in the study of pathogenesis of different intestinal diseases. This article reviewed the new progress of intestinal organoids culture, and the application and progress of intestinal organoids in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases, colorectal cancer and celiac disease in recent years, and also discussed the application of intestinal organoids in drug research and development and screening.
9.Effect of chemokine CXC ligand 9 on cognitive function impairment in breast cancer patients with brain metastases receiving whole-brain radiotherapy
Cong WANG ; Zhi-Lin ZHANG ; Jin-Qiu LI ; Xiao SONG ; Qiang XI ; Huan MA ; Yong-Peng PANG ; Long TIAN
Medical Journal of Chinese People's Liberation Army 2024;49(11):1281-1288
Objective To investigate the effect of chemokine CXC ligand 9(CXCL9)on cognitive function impairment in patients with breast cancer brain metastases undergoing whole-brain radiotherapy(WBRT)using bioinformatics methods.Methods The mRNA of breast cancer brain metastases datasets GSE43837 and GSE12276 and Alzheimer's disease(AD)dataset GSE161199 were screened and downloaded from GEO database.Limma method and Venn diagrams were used to identify common differentially expressed genes(DEGs),and protein-protein interaction and functional prediction through GeneMANIA website assays were performed.A total of 42 patients with breast cancer brain metastases who first visited the Department of Radiotherapy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University from January 2021 to January 2023 were selected.Patients were divided into normal cognitive function group and cognitive function impairment group based on cognitive status.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was employed to detect serum CXCL9 levels one week before and three months after radiotherapy.The mini-mental state examination(MMSE)was used to assess patients'cognitive function.Results The DEGs from datasets GSE43837 and GSE12276 included PKP1,POLDIP2,SPAG5,ALDOC,PTPRZ1,PKIA,TLCD1,CPE,PMP22 and CXCL9.The DEGs from GSE161199 included RPS16,CD79A,LYPD3,RPL28,HBG2,RPL23AP7,TRNR,CXCL9.Venn diagram showed that CXCL9 was a common DEG between breast cancer brain metastasis and AD.Functional enrichment analysis indicated that CXCL9 was involved in cellular responses to chemokines,negative regulation of immune system processes,negative regulation of vascular morphogenesis,Toll-like receptor signaling pathway,nucleotide oligomerization domain(NOD)-like receptor signaling pathway,and JAK-STAT signaling pathway.Before radiotherapy,patients with cognitive function impairment and normal cognitive function accounted for 61.9%and 38.1%,respectively,with a statistically significant difference in MMSE scores[(24.53±2.19)vs.(28.89±1.36),P<0.01].Compared with normal cognitive function group,patients with cognitive function impairment had a significantly increased number of brain metastases and significantly lower Karnofsky performance status(KPS)scores and serum CXCL9 levels(P<0.05).Three months after radiotherapy,patients with cognitive function impairment and normal cognitive function accounted for 47.6%and 52.4%,respectively,with a statistically significant difference in MMSE scores[(25.16±1.98)vs.(28.18±1.08),P<0.01].Compared with normal cognitive function group,patients with cognitive function impairment had significantly lower CXCL9 levels(P=0.003).In patients with normal cognitive function,CXCL9 levels were remarkably lower after radiotherapy compared to those before radiotherapy(P=0.009).Conclusions Patients with cognitive function impairment had significantly lower CXCL9 levels than those with normal cognitive function,and whole-brain radiotherapy may be related to a certain degree of reduction in CXCL9 levels.
10.Height development of 25 225 children aged 6 to 15 years in Nanning City
Na GAN ; Yubo LIANG ; Yongmei LONG ; Xianlan TANG ; Xu XIE ; Qiang WANG ; Desheng ZHOU
Chinese Journal of Child Health Care 2024;32(1):89-92
【Objective】 To analyze the height growth of children aged 6 - 15 years in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, so as to provide evidence for the assessment of local children′s height development. 【Methods】 A total of 25 225 children aged 6 - 15 years were selected to get their physical examination data from 41 primary schools in Nanning by stratified cluster sampling method in December 2021.Then the height data were compared with the current domestic standards. 【Results】 The average height of boys in Nanning was lower than the national standard before the age of 10 years and 7 months, and the gap with the national standard gradually narrowed after the age of 10 years and 7 months. The average height of boys in Nanning City exceeded the national standard between the age of 11 years and 1 month and 13 years and 6 months, and then lagged behind the national standard again after the age of 13 years and 7 months. The mean height of girls in Nanning City was lower than the national standard height in several age groups, and it was more obvious before the age of 9 years and 7 months. The proportion of height ≤-2s,≤-s,≥ +s and ≥+2s in boys aged 6 to 15 years in Nanning City fluctuated from 2.59% to 6.04%, 12.09% to 23.43%, 7.18% to 18.79% and 0.93% to 3.14%, respectively; the total proportions were 4.56%, 17.46%, 11.35% and 1.74%, respectively; the minimum/maximum proportion values of each height group were at 11 years old /8 years old, 14 years old/8 years old, 8 years old/12 years old, and 6 years old/11 years old, respectively. The proportions of girls aged 6 - 15 years in Nanning City with height ≤-2s, ≤-s, ≥+s, and ≥+2s fluctuated from 2.06% to 5.19%, 9.35% to 25.15%, 8.21% to 15.80% and 1.23% to 3.49%, respectively; the total proportions were 3.38%, 16.91%, 11.97% and 2.29%, respectively; and the minimum/maximum proportion values of each height group were at 13 years old/6 years old, 12 years old/6 years old, 7 years old/12 years old, and 6 years old/11 years old, respectively. 【Conclusions】 The overall height level of children in Nanning is still lower than the national level, with short prepubertal basal heights, an earlier age of onset of accelerated pubertal height, and a shorter duration of accelerated pubertal height in boys. Strengthening pre-pubertal height management and emphasizing the onset and duration of children′s pubertal development, especially the height development of boys during puberty, can help improve the adult lifelong height of children in this region.

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